This invention relates to lighting system in automobiles. More specifically, this invention relates to a headlight assembly installed in automobiles.
Conventionally, a motor vehicle have either one or two pairs of headlights that perform the function of illuminating a drivers filed of vision. The headlights are generally illuminated at night and extinguished in daylight. However, today there is a tendency to have the headlights lit in daylight, not in order to illuminate the driver""s field of vision, but rather in order to provide a strong signaling or indicating function to pedestrians or to other vehicles. This function of illuminating daytime light is commonly referred to as that of a xe2x80x9cday running lightxe2x80x9d.
In order to give the required reduced light intensity to headlight driving beams for use in daylight, it is known to energize the filament lamps of such headlights at a lower voltage, which is typically only a few volts, than their nominal supply. Therefore, when a headlight is used in daylight driving in its dipped mode, which involves a reduction in the supply voltage of its filament lamp, then the light is used in the dipped mode far more than in its main beam mode. As a result, the lamps (or the filaments in the case of twin function lamps) which provide the dipped beam function will fail much sooner than those lamps or filaments which are dedicated to the main beam function.
In addition, in the case where dipped beam headlights are of the elliptical type it is found that the required daylight signaling function is not at all satisfactory. In particular, in full sunlight, an observer who is a few meters or tens of meters in front of the vehicle is in danger of not even being able to see that the headlights are lit.
Therefore, there in a need in the automotive industry to provide headlamp that give the visual appearance during the day that these headlamps are be colored, without the headlamp bulb being turned on. There is also a need to provide headlamps such that when the actual lamp is used and the lights are turned on, there is no interference with the color and the performance of the bulb, or performance of the headlamp is not compromised.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a headlight assembly installed in a motor vehicle has reflective capabilities during daytime. Preferably, the headlight assembly is provided with a reflector surface, a light source and a light shield surrounding the light source to provide tint to the light source. In order to reflect light during daytime, the reflector is provided with a colored ring. Additionally, the light shield is also colored such that the colored ring and the light shield are of the same color.
Therefore, during daytime when natural light reflects off the headlight assembly, the reflector gives the appearance of the having the same color as the colored ring and the light shield.